1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in a switching type electrical receptacle having a housing that journals a pair of contact carriers or "rotors" that are rotatable between "off" positions and various "on" orientations--improvements that permit a switching receptacle of the basic type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,299 issued Jan. 16, 1996 to Marc A. Schlessinger to be assembled with ease from a minimal number of relatively inexpensively formed components including at least one circuit board that is carried within the hollow interior of the housing, and including two identically configured, nonconductive housing halves that are connected to and held in assembled relationship by an elongate metal mounting bracket for journaling two identically configured nonconductive rotors that carry contacts which extend rearwardly to engage conductive surfaces of the circuit board, with a housing carried leaf spring interacting with detent formations of the rotors to releasably detain the rotors in "off" and selected "on" orientations, and with other features being provided by utilizing components of novel configuration and arrangement to provide a variable orientation switching receptacle that is well suited for use as a replacement for conventional electrical receptacles.
2. Prior Art
The vast majority of electrical receptacles that are installed in the walls of homes, apartments, offices and the like are of the type that include one or more sets of fixed-position female electrical contacts that are configured to receive prongs (male electrical contacts) of appropriately oriented cord-connected plugs. To utilize such receptacles, the power cord of an electrical appliance is extended from the location of the appliance to the location of a wall-mounted receptacle; the cord-connected plug of the appliance is properly oriented such that its prongs are suitably aligned with a set of female contacts of the receptacle; and the properly aligned prongs of the plug are inserted into the receptacle to permit the female contacts to engage, grip and establish electrical contact with the inserted prongs.
A drawback of receptacles of the type just described is that, due to the fixed-orientation character of their female contacts, it often is found that plugs (and electrical cords connected thereto) that are connected to such receptacles interfere with proper placement of furniture and the like. To resolve such conflicts, it is not unknown for plugs to be bent or otherwise detrimentally deformed (and/or for cords connected thereto to be bent sharply or otherwise detrimentally deformed--which can lead to cords becoming frayed, shorted or broken) to conform to limited available space, with the result that fire and electrical hazards may be created.
Another drawback of receptacles having fixed-position contacts is that, if a non-standard plug (e.g., a plug of oversize or cumbersome design, or a right-angle plug or the like) is "plugged into" one of the stations of a two-station receptacle, the configuration of the nonstandard plug (and/or the orientation of an electrical cord connected to the non-standard plug) may block the other station of the receptacle, thereby preventing use of the second station. Stated in another way, while it may normally be possible to connect two "standard" plugs to a two-station receptacle, the connection of a "non-standard" plug to one of the receptacle's stations may prevent the other station of the receptacle from concurrently receiving and serving a second plug.
Still another drawback of receptacles having fixed-position contacts is that no provision is made for "deactivating" individual sets of female contacts as a safeguard to ensure that toddlers (who have been known to stick metal objects into the slots of such receptacles) will not be painfully shocked or electrocuted. While it is known to deactivate a receptacle by operating a circuit breaker or an electrical switch, this approach often proves to be inconvenient and/or unacceptable. For example, it often is desired to make use of one set of contacts of a receptacle to operate a lamp or other form of appliance while a remaining set of contacts of the receptacle remains idle. "Idle" contacts that are not deactivated are "alive" (i.e., are connected to a source of electrical energy) and therefore present a hazard to a toddler who decides to probe the "idle" contacts by inserting metal objects into receptacle openings.
The switching type electrical receptacle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,299 issued Jan. 16, 1996 to Marc A. Schlessinger (referred to hereinafter as the "Basic Patent," the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) addresses the foregoing and other needs and drawbacks of the prior art by providing a novel and improved electrical receptacle that utilizes at least one generally cylindrical, nonconductive contact carrier or "rotor" that is rotatably mounted by a surrounding nonconductive housing for selectively connecting rotor carried contacts with housing-carried contacts (and thence to a source of electrical energy) when the rotor is rotated to an "on" orientation that resides within a predetermined angular range of "on" orientations, and that interrupts such connection when the rotor is rotated relative to the housing to an "off" orientation.
A feature of the invention of the Basic resides in its providing a very simple, easy-to-use method for "deactivating" a set of female contacts of a receptacle. A particular set of female contacts can be deactivated simply by rotating its carrier relative to the housing to an "off" orientation. In preferred practice, this "deactivating" movement of a rotatable contact carrier can be effected either by grasping and rotating a plug that is "plugged into" the carrier that is to be rotated, or by rotating the carrier itself (if no plug currently is "plugged into" the carrier).
Another feature of the invention of the Basic Patent is the easy-to-use method it provides for selectively orienting electrical plugs (and their attached electrical cords) that are "plugged into" sets of female contacts of electrical receptacles. Because receptacles that embody the preferred practice of the invention utilize sets of female electrical contacts that are housed within individually rotatable carriers, and because these carriers are rotatable within relatively wide angular ranges of "on" orientations, electrical plugs (and their attached electrical cords) can be individually oriented as is needed to minimize interference in properly positioning furniture and the like at locations adjacent installed receptacles.
In preferred practice, an electrical receptacle that embodies the invention of the Basic Patent includes a nonconductive housing, a nonconductive carrier or "rotor" that is connected to the housing for relative rotation thereto, a set of housing-carried electrical contacts, and a set of carrier-carried electrical contacts, with these components being arranged and configured in a manner that will permit the housing-carried and carrier-carried contacts to remain electrically connected while the orientations of the contact carriers are suitably adjusted to accommodate special needs of particular receptacle installations.
In accordance with the preferred practice of the invention of the Basic Patent, a mechanical "detent" also is incorporated in receptacles of the above-described type for "detenting" each rotatable carrier at its "off" orientation--so that, once the carrier has been rotated to its "off" orientation, slightly more than "normal" force (i.e., more force than normally is required to effect carrier rotation) must be applied to rotate the carrier out of its "off" orientation. By this arrangement, if a toddler has come to comprehend that the carrier of a receptacle is "rotatable," the requirement that "slightly more force than normal" be used to effect carrier rotation out of an "off" orientation will assist in providing a safeguard.